How to install WordPress on Ubuntu (+ a LAMP stack)

Step 1: Update the server and install the LAMP stack

We’ll start by installing Apache (the web server), MySQL (the database), and PHP (the scripting language WordPress uses).

Update your package index

Open your terminal and run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

This makes sure your system is running the latest software and security patches.

Install Apache

Install Apache with:

sudo apt install apache2 -y

Once installed, enable it to start on boot:

sudo systemctl enable apache2

sudo systemctl start apache2

To confirm Apache is running, visit your server’s IP address in a browser. You should see the default Apache welcome page.

Install MySQL and secure it

Install MySQL with:

sudo apt install mysql-server -y

Then run the built-in security script:

sudo mysql_secure_installation

Follow the prompts to:

• Set a root password (or confirm one already exists)
  
• Remove anonymous users
  
• Disallow remote root login
  
• Remove the test database
  
• Reload privilege tables

Create a database and user for WordPress

Log into the MySQL shell:

sudo mysql

Run the following commands to create a new database and user:

CREATE DATABASE wordpress DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

CREATE USER ‘wpuser’@’localhost’ IDENTIFIED BY ‘strong_password’;

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON wordpress.* TO ‘wpuser’@’localhost’;

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

EXIT;

Replace ‘strong_password’ with a secure password.

Install PHP and required extensions

Install PHP along with the necessary modules for WordPress:

sudo apt install php php-mysql php-xml php-gd php-curl php-mbstring php-zip libapache2-mod-php -y

Then enable Apache’s rewrite module:

sudo a2enmod rewrite

sudo systemctl restart apache2